


Too Nice

by phoebenpiper



Category: High School Musical: The Musical: The Series (TV)
Genre: Fluff, Gen, Missing Scene
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-12
Updated: 2021-03-12
Packaged: 2021-03-19 01:48:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 967
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29992026
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/phoebenpiper/pseuds/phoebenpiper
Summary: Seb wants to audition for Sharpay, but is he too nice?
Kudos: 3





	Too Nice

“I need to ask your advice,” Seb greeted as Natalie set down her lunch tray on the table.

“Um, who are you, and what have you done with my Sebby?” the girl teased.

The blond boy laughed. “What are you talking about? I ask you for advice.”

Natalie raised a skeptical eyebrow. “When?”

Seb had to think for a moment, quickly running through their summertime chats in his head. Natalie was partly right—Seb wasn’t the sort to often seek advice from others. But that was because there weren’t many decisions to make in his life. His daily routine was fairly simple: wake up at 5 to milk the cows, work on his homework until school, go to class and after-school rehearsal, come home to milk the cows again, and practice music until supper. Not much advice was needed for that.

And Seb wasn’t one to agonize over personal decisions. When you’re up at 5, you’re not going to take 20 minutes to choose an outfit because, frankly, the cows don’t care what plaid shirt you’re wearing, thus Seb mostly sought wardrobe advice from the weather app on his phone. And when you’re a theatre kid, you don’t have to wonder about who to hang with at school because there’s pretty much always another thespian around.

But surely he’d asked Natalie for advice at some point—after all, she was a stage manager—and he finally remembered an example. “Last month I asked if you if you thought that red nail polish matched the red in my plaid shirt,” he offered before adding, “Oh, and I asked which nail I should use as an accent nail.”

Natalie nodded, laughing. “I stand corrected. So what do you need advice on this time?”

“Auditions.”

Natalie gave a frustrated sigh. “Sebby, just tell the new teacher no. Tell her you can’t play for auditions when you’re going to be auditioning yourself.”

The girl’s response was confusing. “Why would I say no? I can play piano and sing at the same time—I do it every day. Besides, it’ll give me a front row seat to the auditions.”

Natalie rolled her eyes and shook her head. “You’re too nice,” she said, adding quietly under her breath, “You could never be a stage manager.”

This comment was even more confusing. “Why would I want to be the stage manager? That’s your role, and you do an amazing job.”

Natalie laughed, patting Seb’s hand. “No worries. I didn’t think you were actually scamming for my job. Like I said, you’re too nice.”

Seb wondered, “Is it even possible to be too nice?”

“It is when you sacrifice your own happiness just to make someone else happy.”

He didn’t think that was such a bad thing. But it was definitely something Sharpay would never do—at least not in the first movie—and thus the crux of his dilemma. “So that’s actually what I wanted to get your advice about. I’m trying to decide which character to audition for.”

Natalie gave him a look. “You have to ask?”

“Well, I know, personality-wise, that I’m a Ryan...or at least Ryan in the first one and a half films. I mean, he’s tots harsh to Shar at the end of 2—I could never treat one of my siblings that way.” Seb shuddered at the very thought.

Natalie snorted. “You think that was harsh? After the way she treated Ryan and the others, she was just getting what she deserved.”

Seb nodded—he knew better than to argue with Natalie—and went on. “So I know I’d make a good Ryan—I obviously already know all his songs. But this is theatre. We’re supposed to be acting, right? Not just playing ourselves on stage.”

Natalie put a hand on his shoulder. “Sweetie, I know you want to stretch, but have you ever actually dribbled a basketball?”

Seb laughed, finding it too ridiculous to imagine. “Not Troy! I know my own skills.” He bit his lips before hesitantly clarifying, “I was talking about Sharpay.”

The stage manager’s eyebrows raised in surprise. “You want to audition for Sharpay?”

“Unless you think I’m too nice,” Seb quickly offered, since it was exactly his own concern. After all, he idolized Sharpay—so talented, so self-assured, not willing to let anything stand in her way—but she was also basically the villain of the piece. Did he have it in him to be that catty, even if it was only for a role? He wasn’t sure.

But Natalie seemed confident of his abilities. “If you want Sharpay, go for it. What’s stopping you?”

Seb paused, not quite sure how to say it. “To be honest? Steph and Addie. I mean, they would both make great Sharpays, and they’re seniors, so shouldn’t they—?”

“You’re too nice!” Natalie scolded, and Seb blushed, staring uncomfortably down at his sack lunch. “I mean it, Sebby. If you’re going to worry about taking roles away from others, you might as well just forget auditions altogether and join crew right now.”

Seb started to protest. While he loved being the rehearsal pianist, he didn’t want to spend his life in the theatre shadows. Being in the chorus of Brigadoon last year had convinced him that he wasn’t meant to hide his light under a bushel...or inside of a 12-foot-tall papier mache tree. He was meant to be center stage...even if that meant some of the senior girls had to resign themselves to the chorus.

“You’re right,” Seb said, grinning broadly before adding, “Sharpay it is, then.”

He was certain he could show to the world a different side of Sharpay. The character didn’t have to be so two-dimensional; behind all that talent and ambition, Sharpay could be nice, too.

Although definitely not too nice.

**Author's Note:**

> I became addicted to HSMTMTS (and especially Seb) over Xmas 2020, although I was a huge HSM fan (Sharpay, of course!) back in the day. This was my first HSMTMTS fic, and I've been writing like a crazy person ever since. Now that I finally got my ao3 account, I'll be posting lots (since I've been reading lots on here!) Hope you enjoy my take on these characters!
> 
> And yes, I sometimes take things Joe has said and give his lines to Seb because they're both so freaking adorable!


End file.
